1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of networked systems and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for dynamically managing networked directory services.
2. Background Information
Networking of computing elements and, in particular, the implementation of client/server networks, wherein the client is the initiating node and the server is the responding node (i.e., not necessarily referring to a file xe2x80x9cserverxe2x80x9d or an application xe2x80x9cserverxe2x80x9d), are known. Examples of these networks include local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), global networks (Internet), and the networking of telecommunications devices (i.e., cellular networks, PCS networks, wireline telephony networks), and the like. Many of these networks comprise a variety of client computers having different processor architectures and Operating Systems (OS) using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Internetwork Packet eXchange (IPX), and User Datagram Protocol/lnternet Protocol (UDP/IP), or other suitable networking protocols (cumulatively referred to as the Internet communication suite) to produce a seemingly transparent network.
Thus, despite this seemingly transparent operation, the reality is that these heterogeneous computer networks can be very cumbersome to manage and, consequently, expensive to maintain. While the standards-based communication protocols of the Internet communication suite (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, IPX) have facilitated the promulgation of such heterogeneous networks, those who manage these networks must duplicate a number of resources to account for a variety of processor architectures and corresponding OS disposed throughout the network. That is to say that the file management, processor communications and the interface to the network communication suite rely on the OS as the user interface to provide a functional computer system (at least from the perspective of the end-user). Accordingly, in most instances where the OS xe2x80x9changsxe2x80x9d (i.e., seemingly xe2x80x9cfreezesxe2x80x9d in an unrecoverable state), the user is, in essence, locked out from the operational state of the computer and the only recourse is to restart the OS (e.g., by rebooting the computer).
Producers and consumers of computer systems have begun to quantify the costs associated with the purchase and maintenance of computer systems and, to some, the results are surprising. One generalization drawn from such study is that the initial cost of purchasing a computer system and software (regardless of size and complexity) is quite small compared to the cost of maintaining such systems. That is to say, the cost of system management, lost productivity due to computer/network downtime and the like are significantly higher than the initial cost of purchasing the hardware and software elements comprising the network.
It is not surprising then, that consumers of large networks of computing devices are placing more pressure on the computing industry to drive down the cost associated with the management and maintenance associated with computer systems, i.e., to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) associated with the purchase and maintenance of the computer systems. Despite their best efforts, however, prior art network management solutions (sometimes referred to as network management tools) to these problems have not had a significant impact on reducing the total cost of ownership.
While the introduction of these tools have improved the general state of network management, fundamental limitations in their effectiveness remain. An example of one such inherent limitation in prior art management tools is the fact that they rely on an operational operating system (OS) at the client computer. That is to say, the prior art network management tools are unable to interface with a xe2x80x9cfrozenxe2x80x9d client computer, much less perform remote diagnostics and maintenance on a client computer in such a state. Rather, many of the prior art management tools created by third party developers merely generate usage statistics, or information readily available from networked computers (or the individual processors of the networked computers), i.e., they merely collect and provide commonly available information via a graphical user interface (GUI).
To further illustrate this limitation with an example, if a user calls a corporate help desk complaining of computer problems, and the network manager determines that the user""s OS is xe2x80x9cfrozenxe2x80x9d, there is little the network manager can do remotely via the network management software. Consequently, the network manager is often relegated to the rather impotent suggestion of having the user xe2x80x9crebootxe2x80x9d the computer and, consequently, losing all of the data stored in volatile memory (i.e., not saved on the hard drive).
Thus a need exists for a method and apparatus for facilitating the management of networked devices, unencumbered by the deficiencies and limitations commonly associated with the prior art.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a network management service for facilitating the management of networked devices by network management applications (a.k.a., agents) is described. The network management service comprises an agent discovery service for discovering and registering remote management agents, and a file transfer service operative to send information to and receive information from remote systems.